The Thunder had their second-largest regular-season defeat in two campaigns on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost three of their last five games, and don’t seem to have an answer for the San Antonio Spurs, who have been two of those losses. The Spurs used physicality to have a 20-point margin of victory in the 130-110 win. That imposing defense led to San Antonio scoring 20 points off 15 turnovers by the Thunder. And according to ESPN Research, it was the first time all year that Oklahoma City trailed a team by 20-plus points.
There were times where the Thunder made stands, but it ultimately felt like they were chasing the Spurs the entire contest. It was their second-largest regular-season loss in two seasons. Now, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did all he could with a game-high 33 points – his fourth consecutive 30-point night – on 14-of-22 shooting from the field with eight assists. But there was no form of help around him, and when he was off the court, the offensive deficit showed.
Here is the full story from Thunder Roundtable writer Braxton Reynolds on the most important takeaways from the disappointing defeat.
What stuck out was how much OKC lost in the paint. They were outscored 60-48. In addition, San Antonio hit 16 threes and overwhelmed in the turnover battle, with 10 steals to the Thunders’ four. The Spurs also only turned it over eight times, while forcing 13 of the total turnovers by OKC. There’s no way to overcome a point deficit of 20-points while actively beating yourselves.
The Thunder needed to play near-perfect against the talented San Antonio squad and simply did not. But they have an immediate chance to get right with Thursday’s matchup, which will be one of three times the teams will still meet in the 2025-26 NBA season.